Improvement in canal locks



lvii-1211i (time GEORGE HEATIL' 0F ANNAPOLIS, .MARYLAND Letters PatentNo. 109,899, dated December 6, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANALA LOCKS.

` The Schedulg referred to in these Letters Patent: and making partofthesame.

To all whom yit may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HEATH, ot' Annapolis, in the county of AnneArundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Canal Locks; and I do hereby declare that the followingis afull, cle-ar, and exact description thereof,- reference beingy hadto the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, inwhich-4 Figure 1, plate 1, is a section taken vertically andlongitudinally through thelock.

Figure 2, plate 1, is a view in detail, and partly in section, ofseveral of the devices forl operating the gate and also the valves.

Figure 3, plate 2, is a vertical transverse section through the lock and gate-operating mechanism.

Figure 4, plate 2, isaplan view of the lock.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalgures.

The first part of my invention relates to a floating self-closingtumble-gate, constructed and voperating in a novel manner, and also todevices which are designed for facilitating the management of the tumbleor dump gate of canal locks, that is to say, gates which, when they areopen, drop down into the lock below the breast-wall so that boats passover them.

rlhe object'of this part of myinventiou is to save time, labor, andwater in opening and shutting a tumblc gate, by constructing such gateso that it will possess suflicicnt buoyancy to close itself whenreleased from the devices used to hold it in position when open; andalso by the employment, for the purpose of opening and keeping open thisgate, of a chain which passes over pulleys, one of which is keyed on ashaft that is rotated by means of spur-wheels provided with a pawl, aclutch, and a hand-wheel, and another of which is hung insuch mannerthat it operates by its gravity to take up the slack inthe chain whilethe gate is being opened, as will be hereinafter explained.

The second part ot' my invention relates to a mode ofl operating valveswhich are applied to a horizontal platform constructed in front of thegate, and the object of the same is that the valves may be opened from aposition upon the lock-wall upon one side of the gate, each v alve beingcontrolled independently of the other by means of a lever and rack andconnectingrods, the latter being attached to the valve and also to acrab or right-angular lever, as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled-in the art to understand my invention I willexplain its construction and operation: 'v

In the accompanying drawing- 'A A represent the vertical side walls,extending down as far as the-horizontal valve-platform G, and receivingthe ends of the gate B.

the gate abuts when shut, as shown in iig. 1.

Hitherto the practice has been to provide the tumble or dum ing-gateswith vertical abntmen'ts so that when these gates werevshut they stoodperpendicular or nearly yso to the bed of the canal. One objection .tothis plan is that surplus water tlows over thc. tops of the gates uponthevboats in the lock.

It will be seen that the abutments s 5 are inclined, and that the gateB, when shut, assumes such position, thus preventing the surplus wateriiowiug over its top from being received upon a boat in the lock, andalso requiringa less amount of movement to open and shut the gate.

lith the inclined gat-c B the water which escapes over its top will tlowgently down its vupper side and will not cause any material commotion inthe water below.

This gate B i's hinged below aa a, in the'well# known manner ot'.hinging the tumble-gates, and itis made suiiiciently buoyant to floatin the water and shut' itself when released from lthe devices which areused to hold it open. l

This gate has attached to it a chain, a', which is passed around andguided by pulleys, tl, d', c, ands.

The chain ispasscd severa-l times around the pulley s, which latter iskeyed on a shaft, c, that is mounted in bearings upon the lock-wall andoperated as will be' hereinafter explained.

The pulleyc is applied to abearing which has vertical slots, c', throughwhich the journals of this pulley pass. Y

The hearings or standard-box is arranged in a depression or well, 6,made into the platform C, andthe pulley c'y is allowed to risc and i'allas the gate B vis swung open and shut. 4The weight-of `pulley e thusarranged and mounted keeps the chain under tension.

This arrangement of the pulley' and bearing iu the well or recess isvery important, as it allows of ther .gate being lowered to or below ahorizontal position.

'lhe pulley d is inserted into the cap timber of wall A, in line withbut below the level of the gangs of pulleys, d d', which latter havetheir bearings in long standards, G G, which are firmly secured down inplace above the recess A.

The tlanged pulley or winding-drum, s, is keyed on a horizontal shaft,r, which is supported by suitable bearings, and which has a largetoothed-wheel, r, ap-l plied loosely on it, and also a sliding clutch,f.

To this clutch a lever, K, is applied, by means of which the clutch-pinsj' f can be introduced into holes made in the hub of the wheel r, asshown in fig. 2, thus engaging thc wheel r with its shai't c.

Above wheel fr, and engaging with vrit, is a pinion, t, which is keyedou the shaft i' of al hand-wheel, H.

Shaft t has its bearings ina frame, J, to which isV applied a pawl, p,that can kbe made 'to engage with the teeth of the large'spurwheeL A -Itwill be seen from the` abovesdescription that when the wheel r' isengaged with its shaft fv, the gate B can be lowered to a horizontalposition by turning the `hand-wheel Hfaud held in this position by meansof the pawl p also, that the gate will oat to the surface of the waterand shut against the inclined abutmeuts zz by simply disengaging theclutch j" from wheel fr.

Openings are made vertically through the platform O for the purpose ofallowing water from a higher Y levelto How into the pond below. Eachopeniug is The upper part of rod u has atooth-rack'applied to it, themode of applying which isA not claimed under this application, the teethof whichare engaged by a toothed-segmentd', on theeud of a hand-lever,L.

The anti-friction roller fw and the segment of lever L have theirbearings in a long standard, G, secured in position' on itop of thecap-timber A3, and canal-wall A.

'lhe drawing shows but 'one valve, butit will be undelstood that eachopening through the platform' C is provided with avalve, and withdevices, as above described, for operating it.

The crab or angular lever consists of a tube having two arms, h h, on itat the required angle, and this crab or lever is applied to andsupportedby a bearing-box which is arranged in a subrecess, A, made into the sidewall A. By this means might-angular movement` masse can be obtained withvery little friction, and as each valve is provided with separatedevices for operating it, a sudden Arush of waterinto the lower pondfrom the higher one is prevented. Furthermore, it will be seen that allthe valves can be operated' from the side of the lock,'aud eachindependent of the other.

Having described my invention,

What I claim asv new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ise 1. Thechain a', pulleys d e s, and self-closing tumble-gate B, in combinationwith the spur-wheels t r, pawl p, clutch fl', and hand-Wheel H, allarranged and4 operating substantially in the manner shown and described. i

2. The gravitating pulley e in'combnation with the tumble-gate B and itschain a', substantially as de scribed.

4The combination, with the buoyant self-closing tumbling-gate B, ofthereleasing clutch f', or both the releasing clutchl f' and the pawl p,andlsuitable intermediate mechanism for lowering the gate, sub-Vstantially in the manner described.

4. The combination of crab-lever h h, rods a and g, rack at', andtoothed-lever L, with the valve c of canallock platform C, substantiallyin lthe manner shown and described.

5. The arrangement of two or more crab-levers ou the same shaft, andextending rods vertically up from and horizontally out from said levers,and connecting each of said rods with its own independent rack andtoothed-lever, and with its own independent valve, all in such mannerthat a series of valves on the canal-lock platform G may be separatelyor successively opened or closed from one side of the lock, as setforth.

GEO. HEATH.

Witnesses:

J. N. CAMPBELL, EDM. F. BROWN..

